Meeting of Ecowas Administration and Finance Committee Underway in Abidjan

Abidjan-Cote d'Ivoire — The new management of the ECOWAS Commission is working to enhance efficiency and equip the organisation to respond to the dynamics of its external environment and the demands of Community citizens, the President of the Commission, Ambassador Kadre Desire Ouédraogo, has said. In an address to a two-day meeting of the ECOWAS Administration and Finance Committee (AFC) which opened in Abidjan on Tuesday, 15th May 2012, the President said that various initiatives have been launched as part of management's commitment to eliminate wastes and ensure the efficient utilization of the Community' resources and address structural deficiencies to enhance efficiency. "We therefore look forward with excitement to fruitful collaboration with the AFC in the service of our Community and with optimism that our tenure will make a profound impact on the citizens," he added.

The president, who was represented by the Commissioner for Administration and Finance, Mrs. Khadi Saccoh, said these objectives could not be realized without the "active support of the AFC and the decision-making structures of the Community." He said some of the initiatives have been captured in the eight memoranda submitted for consideration by the Committee whose recommendations will be submitted to the mid-year session of the Council of Ministers, scheduled to take place early June 2012, also in Abidjan. In remarks earlier, the representative of the Government of Cote d'Ivoire, Mr. Tanon Felix, reiterated the critical role of the Committee to the efficient functioning of the Commission and other Community institutions. Mr. Tanon, Special Adviser to the Minister in charge of African Integration in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the meeting is a forum for evaluating and monitoring the administration and finances of the Community, adding that its recommendations contribute to the building of a strong, viable and performing community.

Among the memoranda for consideration by the Committee is the one requesting the doubling of the annual contribution to National Coordinating Committees for the regional multilateral surveillance mechanism in order to strengthen their capacity in line with the decision of the October 2011 meeting of the Convergence Council. There are also others, canvassing for additional budgetary appropriations to enable the ECOWAS Youth Development Centre undertake more youth and sports activities as well as proposals for a new mechanism for monitoring and reporting on the tasks assigned to the Commission and other institutions of the Community. It is the first session of the AFC being attended by the Commission's new management team led by President Ouedraogo with the complement of six Commissioners who took over in February 2012 from their pioneer predecessors.

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